The goal of the present study was to determine the feeling of pediatric patients and their guardians towards commercial pharmaceutical preparations and to examine the effect of breaking up or crushing four kinds of commercial pharmaceutical tablets on their bitterness using an artificial taste sensor and human gustatory sensation tests. We interviewed children between 3 and 5 years old together with their guardians to obtain their views on taking tablets. More than half of the children and their guardians showed a positive attitude toward taking tablets, although they had little experience of taking any. The four kinds of tablets evaluated for bitterness were clarithromycin, azithromycin, telithromycin, and amantadine, which are all naturally bitter, and bitterness was compared among intact, broken up and crushed tablets. The breaking up and crushing of tablets produced a significant increase in bitterness scores obtained with both the artificial taste sensor and human gustatory sensation tests. Thus, in case of drugs in tablet form which are very bitter, if available, pediatric tablets are preferable to breaking up or crushing adult tablets for children.
